Gareth Southgate: Liverpool star to play important role for England

Gareth Southgate has revealed that Liverpool ace Adam Lallana will become a key member of his England side because of his “intelligence”.

The 28-year-old has excelled for both club and country this season, scoring five goals and assisting five more.

Speaking in a live Q&A session on England’s official Twitter account, Southgate told fans that Lallana will star in his side in a newly-implemented pressing tactic after utilising it to full effect at club level.

“It’s a style of play that suits the young squad we’ve got,” Southgate said. “So definitely that’s something we aim to do as a team. When you have players of Adam’s intelligence, it triggers it in the rest of the team.

“Certainly I think we have a lot of players like Lallana who at their clubs press extremely well. To become a world-class team that’s what we have to do against the very best.”